tirare le somme

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to draw the sums”.

Verb

tiràre le somme (first-person singular present tìro le somme, first-person singular past historic tirài le somme, past participle tiràto le somme, auxiliary avére) (intransitive)

1. to sum up
2. (figurative, by extension, idiomatic) to draw conclusions [+ di (someone/something) = about]

   mi prese per un cretino, ma son riuscito a tirare le somme

   he took me for an idiot, but I was able to put two and two together

   • 2020, Barack Obama, chapter 9, in Chicca Galli, Paolo Lucca, Giuseppe Maugeri, transl., Una terra promessa [A Promised Land], Garzanti Libri:

     Mi domandai se avesse avuto modo di guardarsi indietro e tirare le somme della sua vita, o se per lei questo sarebbe stato segno di debolezza.

     I wondered if she'd been able to look back and take stock, or whether she’d consider that too much of an indulgence.

     (literally, “I wondered if she had a way to look back and draw conclusions on her life, or if for her this would have been a sign of weakness.”)